


Hope For Tomorrow

by kei_reads



Category: NieR: Automata (Video Game)
Genre: 9S being introspective, Angst with a Happy Ending, Gen, Hopeful Ending, How Do I Tag, Mild Hurt/Comfort, man idk i wrote this back in 2017, thinking about human and wanting to meet one
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-23
Updated: 2020-12-23
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:48:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,736
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28262643
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kei_reads/pseuds/kei_reads
Summary: A mysterious signal had been broadcast with no sender, only coordinates to a location deep in the city. With no way to know it's origins, the Commander tasks 9S with finding it, whatever it is, and retrieving it. What he doesn't expect to find from a simple distress signal was the hope for the future that he'd long since given up on.
Relationships: 9S (NieR: Automata)/Reader
Comments: 1
Kudos: 64





	Hope For Tomorrow

Humanity was extinct. It wasn't an exaggeration but a cold fact. The old world from before was gone, it's time had long past and no hoping or praying would bring it back. 

Humanity was extinct but the humans' presence still echoed. The buildings now in ruins were once bustling with people who were just being alive. There was no plan for them, no objective. They just lived, grew old, then died. That was their cycle and to look back on it with the eyes of an android, it was so beautiful. He wished he could have seen one, been held by their human creators just once. 

But that was an impossible dream now. There were no humans, just androids fighting machines until the end of time. 

Humans were made of nitrogen, calcium, and iron, they were stardust and so beautiful. How wonderful it must have been. If only he could have been there, standing shoulder to shoulder with these beings with so much beauty to their very existence. 

9S looked down at his hands. These hands had killed more machines than he could care to remember. The ones he killed weren't human, the humans died because of them. He wasn't stardust. He would never shine the way they did, he would never live as they did. He would only pretend until the inevitable happened. It was only a matter of time now, before the end of his life would come again. He would forget, he would fight, he would die. 

It wasn't as elegant as humans. 

"9S, do you have the coordinates to your next objective?" The Commander's stern voice broke through his reverie. He was pulled back into the present and out of his own head. Right. He had a mission to do.

"Yes, ma'am. I am making my way to the flight unit."

"Good. Follow and find that signature. It may be just what we need to get the resistance enough space to move in. Your orders are the same; find it, collect it, and do not be seen. Understood?"

"Copy that, Commander." He felt like rolling his eyes but even though he had a visor over them, he got the feeling the Commander would know. Even if she was in orbit, he learned not to underestimate the Commander and didn't want to know how badly he'd get chewed out of he was disrespectful. He shuddered to himself and found his way to his flight unit.

Another day another target. 9S boarded with little fanfare and took to the sky, already engrossed in finding whatever the signal was. He was honestly very interested in finding it and unraveling the little mystery that had fallen into his lap. It read like a distress signal but no one could actually tell what it really was. It was deep underground, under some ruined building according to the briefing. It was strange, but he was used to fighting alongside 2B and destroying machines by the hundreds. A little solo recon was almost like a vacation to him now. 

Not that he wanted to be alone...

_Don't let that thought settle._ He closed his eyes and tried to get himself to focus. This wasn't anything new to him, he was a scanner. He would be fine without 2B. Everything would be just fine. Being alone for a little while wouldn't kill him, he wasn't a child.

Before he could stop it, his mind drifted back to humans. Their children were supposedly very small and fragile. They needed constant care and protection because they weren't made to defend themselves in the beginning. Then over time they would grow up and could do amazing things, like build androids to fight their battles and save their planet even if they were already gone. It was poetic and impressive. Yet somehow so spiteful.

Again he had to clear his thoughts. He shook his hand and refocused himself on flying and keeping his thoughts trained on the coordinates. This was a mission and he didn't want to get destroyed and have to deal with the stern look the Commander would give him. He could handle this, he knew he could. _Just stay focused 9S._

He landed his flight unit far enough away from where the signal's origin to avoid being spotted by the machines. He didn't want them following him and by extension, finding his objective. Find out what's causing the signal, then leave. A simple in and out type of mission. 

Easy.

He hopped out and began his short trek to the signal's location. There was minimal machine interference when he started but as he grew closer to the target, the number of machines grew. "Guess we weren't the only ones who noticed the signal then." He clicked his tongue. He could fight them but the Commander had told him not to be seen. All stealth, no machine slaying. Bummer. Still, he scaled the side of the nearest building to the target and hummed. This was nothing to a scanner.

He watched the damn machines scour the area with a barely hidden feeling of disdain. There was no way that those things would find the signal before he did. It was a matter of pride at this point to beat the alien machines to it. Whatever it was, it didn't belong in the grasp of the creatures that destroyed humanity. He smiled slowly at the beginnings of their game and slowly crept to the ruined building.

It was hardly any effort to find the access hatch. He could easily move the small amount of rubble off it with hardly any noise and none of the bumbling machines even noticed him as he worked. His lip curled slightly between a sneer and a smirk. They really were just empty tin cans.

Not wasting any more time, 9S slipped down through the hatch and landed down into an eerily dark corridor. The only light was coming from dim backup lights on the ceiling. It looked almost like a hospital, but it was fortified like a military base. Odd.

He kept his back to the wall and moved carefully. He was getting closer to the distress signal. He could feel it. He quietly peered around door frame after door finding nothing but empty rooms. No signs of any machines inside. He would come back to them; 9S could see they had filing cabinets with documents that he knew YoRHa would want.

It was in one of the last rooms that 9S checked that made his circuits stutter and forced him to drop to his knees just outside the door. Lying in a row of cots were humans, lying so still they could have been sleeping but none of their chests moved with any breath. The advanced medical machines that were supposed to be keeping them alive were all shut down. Their life support failed and they were just...gone. Corpses froze in time. Seeing the dust and bones was so different than seeing them lying still and cold. 

"Why? Why did I find this--?! Why now?!" His voice was raw and he felt stifled. Why this? How long had they been waiting here? Was someone supposed to be here looking after them? Why hadn't he known?! He would have... So many questions battered against his head before he could stop them, crushing him under the weight of his guilt.

They were the species that created him, his entire kind, all androids and they had died alone with no one to find them. And as horrible as it may have sounded, they were still so beautiful. They looked so soft and delicate compared to him. How could this be the same species of people who would create things like him to fight their battles and kill their enemies. How could something so fragile have ever dominated the planet?

Then he heard it. The faintest sound of something beeping. The signal perhaps? He forced himself back to his feet and moved to enter the room. The weight of his discovery was dragging him down but he still had a job to do, despite his pain. He didn't let himself look anywhere but forward. He didn't want to see the faces of the humans. He couldn't. He moved deeper into the room.

And again he was brought to his knees. Tears began to pool at the edges of his eyes and slip down under his blindfold. In the very last cot in the corner lay a person. Their heart-monitor beeping steadily. They were _alive._ Their hand twitched in their sleep and his own shot out to clasp it. It felt so warm, real genuine warmth against his own synthetic heat. The tears came faster and harder, his body buckling.

They were so warm, so alive and so wonderful. Everything in his programming was singing. It was like he was waking up from a nightmare he hadn't realized he was in. He was so close to a human, there was a human alive and _he_ had found them. They were the signal, it must have been time to wake them up. It was too late for the others but this one, this one beautiful someone was ready to wake up and greet the morning.

Unable to resist, though it wasn't like he was even trying, 9S yanked off his blindfold to see them with his own eyes and crawled up to their bedside. Almost reverently he brought their hand to his face to cup his cheek and he sighed at the feeling. Human flesh met synthetic skin and he had never known that his mind could be so peaceful.

For once everything felt right. _This_ was what he had been fighting for. He devoted everything he had to humanity and now he saw for himself that it wasn't pointless. There was one person. 

Your eyes began to slowly crack open. You could feel someone next to you, holding on to you. 9S stood up, not letting go of your hand but with his free one wiping the tears off of his face. He leaned slightly over you, head bowed to greet the last of the human masters. You had been asleep for so long and suddenly when your eyes came into focus, you were met with an adoring smile and a pair of beautiful blue eyes.

"Welcome back, my name is 9S. I have a lot you need to know."


End file.
